The field of this invention is liquid disinfectant compositions particularly disinfectant compositions for application to domestic animals. A particular field of use is for prevention or treatment of mastitis in cattle.
The economic loss in the United States caused by mastitis infection of dairy cattle has been estimated to be in excess of two billion dollars annually. For a discussion of the magnitude of this problem see Current Concepts of Bovine Mastitis, 2nd edition, 1973, Published by National Mastitis Council, Inc., 30F Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20001. For prevention or control of mastitis, a wide variety of teat dip solutions have been applied to the udders of cattle, and many commercial preparations are presently being marketed in the United States. As the principal disinfecting agent, these preparations usually contain iodophor, sodium hypochloride, chlorhexidine, or mixtures thereof. Teat dips containing iodophor at concentrations of from 0.5 to 1% have been favored.
Since a number of bacterial pathogens cause or contribute to mastitis, the disinfecting agent must function bacteriostatically or bactericidally against a broad spectrum of bacteria. Various antibiotics have been used in preparations for the prevention or treatment of mastitis, but many antibiotics do not have a sufficiently broad spectrum of acitivity. A further limitation is that antibiotic residues cannot be present in the milk if it is to be sold.
Heretofore no fully satisfactory liquid composition has been developed for the prevention, control, or treatment of mastitis. Ideally, such a preparation would be easy to apply, non-irritating to the teats and udders, bacteriostatically and/or bactericidally effective against the pathogens associated with mastitis, adherent to the teat surfaces to which it is applied in the intervals between milking or treatment, and yet easily and completely removable prior to milking.